Short shelf life. CDs are on their way out. Photograph: David Sillitoe.
CDs are over. Very soon, the physical single in England will be as good as obsolete. Downloads are killing the physical sales of singles. Within two years the big chains will be mobile phone shops.
CDs killed people's love of music. Vinyl was, and is, a beautiful experience and will be around forever. CDs are just 74 minutes of drawl. Does anyone ever remember any good double albums? Well that's what CDs became - double albums. The major labels loved them because they could get us all to buy The Beatles' back catalogue yet again. This week they've found another way to rehash them - Love refixed by Giles Martin, son of George 'I hate drugs' Martin. Can you imagine? "Get off the acid John, EMI needs the new record!"
The CD as a format is unloveable and cold. CDs are just software invented by the majors, computer data. They're only useful now for DJing or ripping to your iPod. These days, life's too fast to stick on a CD and listen to whole albums in the house, but we'll listen to an iPod anywhere. Music downloads are about song culture, which is how rock 'n' roll began in the 50s - with single tracks, not bloated albums full of rubbish.
The majors have lost the means of distribution. Apple own it now. Apple is sexy. EMI isn't. Apple rule - they move fast, which is why the major labels hate them. At the moment the majors are in absolute denial, but deep down they know the game is up. Go to any provincial HMV and see what's going on: Screamadelica and The Stone Roses are on sale for £3.99. They have both been sale items for the last year. The accountants have fucked it up and the control of music is going back to the musicians and indie labels, thank God, as the means of distribution is changing. Unlike the major corporations, we can adapt to change quickly.
Dance on the major labels' graves - they all deserve it for not looking out for the music, just their own million dollar salaries. They're fucked because they never liked music anyway. There was never any love at the majors for music after the 70s in the higher realms.
Downloads will be king within the next couple of years. This time, the major labels have lost the football for good. Enjoy it as they crumble.
